Questions tagged [participial-phrases]
The participial-phrases tag has no usage guidance.
72
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Why is the comma added? [closed]
Why is the comma added in the following?
[The] Hyena crept slowly round, making the most of his spotted brown camouflaged fur against the brownish stems of grass.
2
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2
answers
91
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Function of "unattended" in "Luggage left unattended will be taken away by the police"
In the following sentence, does "unattended" function as a subject complement of "luggage"?
Luggage left unattended will be taken away by the police
P.S: I am well aware that the ...
0
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0
answers
38
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Ambiguity in the nature of the participle: an adjective, a verb or a non-finite participle clause [duplicate]
Is there ay test to differentiate between an adjective phrase, a participle clause and a verb phrase in the passive? I know they all function as modifiers to an NP. In the following examples I am a ...
1
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0
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34
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Participle clause containing a subject [duplicate]
I am confused as to whether it is correct to use a participle clause as a nonessential element in a sentence like with a participle phrase.
For example, I know that the following sentence is correct:
...
0
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1
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101
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Past participle form of the verbs "walk", "meet", "sit", etc
From the explanation about participle phrases from this British Council's page, it lists some past participles such as gone, read, seen, walked, etc..
Having said that, I tried to construct sentences ...
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1
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231
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Use "hang" or "hung", when to use passive voice of "hang"?
In this example, "framed picture hung on wall". "hang" is passive.
However, in "a picture of a dinosaur hanging on the wall ." and "many umbrellas hanging from the ...
3
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1
answer
117
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Present participle result
I need your valuable comments on the following two sentences regarding the meaning of participle clauses:
Economists often criticize rent control, arguing that it is a highly inefficient way to help ...
0
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1
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71
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What’s the meaning of ‘stand hacking‘? [duplicate]
I'm trying to understand this sentence:
For hours I stood hacking at the icy ground.
Which is in this excerpt of Viktor Frankl’s 1947 book, Man's Search for Meaning:
Another time we were at work in ...
4
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1
answer
272
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Gerund vs Participle
When discussing faulty parallelism in Merriam Webster's (1994) Dictionary of English Usage, they use the following sentence to illustrate faulty parallelism, but in doing so they refer to "taking ...
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0
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46
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present participle in there be sentences [duplicate]
"There is a man sitting under the tree. "
How to explain the "sitting" grammatically?
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0
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Correct pronouns with participial phrases
In reference to a photo: There’s Bill and I on the mound, he having walked the batter, I handing him the ball...
he/his/him having walked
I/me handing him
Did I get the right pronouns in the above ...
2
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1
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232
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Using participle constructions instead of subordinate clauses
I'm studying to become a teacher. Yesterday, my students took a test. The first task was to rewrite the given sentences using a participle construction.
Right now, I'm struggling with one sentence ...
2
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0
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Relative reduced adjective phrase rephrased as Compound Adjective
Balloon filled with gas = gas-filled balloon
Infested with mosquito = mosquito-infested
Covered in/with snow = snow-covered
Necklace studded with diamonds = diamond studded
Deprived of sleep = sleep-...
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1
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348
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What's correct: "I saw him eating" or "I saw his eating"? [duplicate]
I was always taught that if you can replace a participle with a pronoun, then you should use the possessive case. So instead of "I saw him eating", because I can substitute "it" ...
0
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92
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Can participial phrases describe the actions of a subject other than the first one mentioned?
I'm still very confused about the correct placement of participial phrases when they describe the action of a noun that isn't the main subject.
"I eventually saw the film that had everyone ...
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0
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32
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Do you need a context to fully understand what a participle clause means? [duplicate]
Having finished the work, he went home.
As you can see, there is no context available in that sentence. So, the above sentence could mean:
Because he had finished the work, he went home. Or,
After ...
3
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0
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78
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Question about the word order [duplicate]
I know these two sentences are correct:
Europeans consider climate change to be the most serious problem facing the world.
Perhaps the most serious problem facing the environment is global warming.
...
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2
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"As pets being welcome, she stayed at the hotel with her dog." [closed]
I know that the the following two sentences are validly structured.
Pets being welcome, she stayed at the hotel with her dog.
and
As pets were welcome, she stayed at the hotel with her dog.
The ...
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0
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42
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Participial phrase separating main verbs
Let's say you have the following sentence:
I stood there and wondered what to do next.
Now, let's say you insert a participial phrase after "there."
I stood there looking at her and wondered ...
0
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0
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64
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Can I use a participial phrase in this way to modify the objects of a sentence?
I've been thinking recently about participial phrases and all the ways they can be used. I've been advised that it's good to think of them as providing a supplementary predication about the subject, ...
2
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2
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217
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'He went into the room, opening the door using a skeleton key.' Is the time-sequence correct? Is the ‘using’ clause showing method?
He went into the room, opening the door using a skeleton key.
Is the time-sequence (participial clause describing an event taking place before the main-clause event) correct?
Is the ‘using’ clause ...
0
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1
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94
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Parts of speech or participial construction (insertion of "palm face up")
People don’t usually think of touch as a temporal
phenomenon, but it is every bit as time-based as it is spatial.
You can carry out an experiment to see for yourself. Ask a
friend to cup his hand, ...
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2
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120
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Is there any preference in the use of participial clause versus a relative clause? [duplicate]
For example,
A. I defined the density as the number of persons populating the region.
B. I defined the density as the number of persons that populate the region.
Also consider the following.
C. ...
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1
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“Based on” X, we can say Y?
Based on the evidence available, I’m not sure I can conclude anything.
We often say that X is based on Y to mean X is grounded in, or adapted from, Y. But can we use it as above as if it were a sort ...
4
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1
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Participle Phrases as Adverbs
I'm teaching my daughter some grammar lessons and ended up a bit confused about how to analyze participle phrases such as "removing his coat" in the following sentence:
Removing his coat, ...
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0
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Participial construction. Can I say like that?
I want to ask about the participial construction. Please check and comment on these 2 sentences.
-Being unable to remember that word, I often feel frustrated.
-Unable to remember that word, I often ...
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0
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47
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A question concerned to the participles
The traveller, being weary, sat by the woodside to rest.
My book says the present participle being weary (passive) is used absolutely in the sentence with the noun The traveller. But it's separated by ...
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1
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382
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Grammatical function of "According to..."
What is the function of the phrase "according to" in sentences like "According to my neighbor, it will rain tomorrow"?
It seems like the phrase "according to my neighbor" ...
0
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1
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74
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What does "ensuring" refer to?
Original sentence:
"If ethics and business are to be viewed as inextricably linked, management must play
an important role in this process, ensuring that a company follows an ethical code of
...
0
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1
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45
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What is the subject of a participial phrase?
But the hand which I now saw, clearly enough, in the yellow light of a
mid-London morning, lying half shut on the bedclothes, was lean,
corded, knuckly, of a dusky pallor and thickly shaded with a ...
0
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1
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103
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Temporal Participial Phrases
He lay staring into the sky.
He came running towards me.
He arrived finding nobody there.
I have read this by John Lawler but am struggling to put these into one of the five categories he mentioned.
...
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1
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315
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I was happy playing the piano (gerund or participle?)
In the sentence, “I was happy playing the piano,” is the phrase “playing the piano” a participial (Playing the piano, I was happy) or a gerund with an elided, or assumed, preposition (I was happy [...
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2
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602
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verb-ing modifier trouble
I'm unexplainably confused about this topic.
What does the following verb-ing clause modify? (noun) researchers
or (action) have sent?
How do we decide that? --> very important for me
Is there any ...
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2
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91
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What is the omitted subject of 'eating with your brother' in 'the big guy eating with your brother'?
(1) Who's the big guy [ ___ eating with your brother]?
Here, the subject of the bracketed non-finite clause is omitted, as shown in the blank, and is retrievable from the main clause. I'd like to ...
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1
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64
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Is this participle clause sentence correct? [closed]
How do you think about this sentence? Is it ok grammatically?
Having been in shape, I go to gym twice a week.
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Perfect Participle - "Having gained truth, keep truth"
"Having gained truth, grab the truth"
This is an example of the Exercise in Grammar 51 in Wren and Martin, which actually asks for the noun being qualified by the partciple beside its type.
Now, two ...
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181
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Are all "Dangling Participles" wrong?
I solved a grammar exam recently, and one question got me wondering.
The answer key says that
Stepping inside the church, the large columns supporting the ceiling immediately catch your eye.
is ...
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1
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653
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Preposition followed by participial phrase
For example,
After brushing my teeth, I go to bed
Is this a participial phrase, or a prepositional phrase, or both?
Brushing my teeth...
Is participial, but the after is making me think that ...
0
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1
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69
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A Gerund or Participial Phrase?
The state's ACLU branch reached out to the Massachusetts State Police requesting records regarding the acquisition and use of robotics.
Should there be a comma before "requesting" ?
Is the "...
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1
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What does 'fungus-growing' mean?
Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of
this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet
in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of ...
0
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1
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70
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Tenses to pair with participial phrases
I am teaching about participial phrases these days, and all examples I am able to find online have the phrases paired with simple tenses. For example:
Removing his glasses, Kent Clark quickly put ...
2
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0
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How to explain the tenses in these sentences?
So my Japanese student is having trouble understanding why the following tenses are used and I’m not sure how to explain it.
My line manager wants the meeting arranged immediately.
Why does that ...
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0
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What is the official rule(s) regarding punctuation and end-sentence participles?
I tried searching for this, but only received more questions, instead of answers. Recently, I was asked a question about participial phrases and the punctuation that surrounds them. Attempting to ...
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2
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Blue eyes white dragon
Why BLUE EYES white dragon ,not BLUE EYED ?
Does anyone know why ?
Because , as far as I’m concerned , the latter is the correct form
Or maybe I just got it wrong?
if anyone in this world knows ...
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How is "swimming" being used grammatically in "I saw them swimming in the lake"?
Consider this sentence:
I saw them swimming in the lake.
How is "swimming" used in the sentence? Is it a gerund or verb or anything else and how is it connected to the sentence?
I am mostly aware ...
4
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2
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Which are right choices in: “Can you imagine him/his forgetting his own birthday?”
Which one of the following is correct?
Can you imagine his forgetting his own birthday?
Can you imagine him forgetting his own birthday?
The question was asked in SNAP 2009 and I can't understand ...
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2
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The grammaticality and function of "people ages 20 to 30" (as opposed to "people aged 20 to 30")
I have seen/heard constructions similar to "people ages 20 to 30" many times. However, several discussions, including questions on ELU, suggest the aforementioned construction is ...
3
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1
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Participial Phrases
Is the sentence below grammatically correct?
I repeatedly punched his face until I passed out, my arms sliced a few times by his blade."
I know what participial phrases are; I read about them ...
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"I remember watching Dallas," vs. "I remember us watching Dallas."
I remember watching Dallas.
I remember us watching Dallas.
I know that both are common usage.
What I don't understand is exactly what role "watching" has in the second sentence. It is clearly a ...
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1
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464
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How do I know what a participial phrase is within a sentence?
Recently, I have realized that there are huge gaps in my knowledge in terms of grammar, so I have begun learning some of the basics. One thing I am trying to learn is the participial phrase. I ...